


Full Moon Ficlet #401 - Entropy

by JoMouse



Series: Full Moon Ficlets [31]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, College Student Derek Hale, College Student Stiles Stilinski, Comfort Food, Don't copy to another site, Food, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Scholastic Stress, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26921437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Derek is having a terrible time writing a paper for class. A strange young man keeps appearing across from him with food.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Full Moon Ficlets [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652395
Comments: 15
Kudos: 176
Collections: Full Moon Ficlet Prompt #401: Entropy





	Full Moon Ficlet #401 - Entropy

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations.
> 
> When I saw this week's theme, my first question was "What the f*ck is entropy?" Now, one week and one fic later, I'm still asking that question and doubting my own intelligence.
> 
> I had a bit of fun writing this and my wonderful, beautiful beta [Marie](HTTP://quietzap.tumblr.com) said it made her laugh, so I hope it does the same for you!
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Derek stared at the text in front of him, eyes tracing over the paragraph he’d already read more times than he could possibly count. Even after yet another readthrough, he still had no idea what the hell it was talking about. He’d known as soon as the teacher said they were going to be doing a unit on thermodynamics in their science class, that he was going to have an issue and on the first day he found that to be true. 

“What the fuck is entropy?” he muttered, pulling out his phone and pulling up Google, thankful for the plug in the middle of the table or his phone would’ve died shortly after he’d arrived at the learning center on campus.

“Chaos,” a voice said and Derek looked up to find the seat across from him occupied when a moment earlier it had been completely empty. “In the simplest terms, but that really doesn’t cover it.”

“How does chaos apply to thermodynamics?” Derek asked, eyes still on his phone as he read over definition after definition of the term, his frustration growing with each one. He’d always thought he was intelligent but in one afternoon, he was beginning to doubt if he even had two brain cells to rub together to create heat.

“That is above my paygrade,” the young man said with a smile before setting a bag that smelled like his favorite carryout on the table and standing and walking away.

“Wait! I didn’t order food!” he called out, ducking when a couple of students at the other tables turned to glare at him. 

“No, you didn’t,” the man called back, disappearing out the door. 

Confused, Derek looked around to see if there was anyone else that was looking for a delivery order but all heads were turned back to the papers and books in front of them; finals were less than a week away and the entire campus had turned into a giant ball of stress. Reaching for the bag, he pulled the receipt free of the staple stuck to the top. It was definitely from his favorite restaurant that was around the corner from his apartment and both of his favorite combos; it was too much food but he could never decide between the two and liked having leftovers.

Opening the bag, he inhaled deeply and his stomach rumbled. His favorite thing about that particular study center was that they were allowed to eat, so he pulled out the General Tso’s Chicken and a plastic fork. He sighed happily around the first bite as he turned back to the book in front of him and groaned as the word ‘entropy’ filled his vision again. 

He’d finished half of each combo and gotten no further with his paper on entropy than when he’d started eating. He looked over the pages of notes he’d taken on all of the different Google searches he’d done: entropy, entropy in plain English, simple entropy, examples of entropy in real life. He laughed at his sketches of a messy bedroom with a campfire in the center and while he’d had a good time sketching, he wasn’t any closer to where he’d been when he’d sat down.

A noise drew his attention to the seat across from him and the young man from earlier had returned, a smirk on his face as he passed a bottle of water and brownie across the table towards him. “I didn’t order a brownie.”

“No, you didn’t,” he said, rising out of the chair and heading out the door with a wave over his shoulder.

Derek reached for the brownie, recognizing the napkin from his favorite coffee shop near campus. Shaking his head, he took a bite and closed his eyes with a happy sigh. Once the brownie was gone, he set the napkin next to the bag of leftover carryout and took a drink of the water. 

The night continued with more Google searches, more frustration, and more food being delivered by the mysterious man with a smirk and the same response. By the time Derek had finished his paper, feeling absolutely no confidence in what he’d created but knowing he could drop his lowest grade in the class, the table was covered with detritus from the different deliveries. Moving slowly, he took the bag from the cheese and crackers that had been dropped off around midnight and filled it with the debris. All the leftover food went in with the first bag with the cold Chinese food.

He shouldered his backpack, grabbed both of the bags and headed for the door. Stepping outside, he tripped over someone’s legs that were sticking out next to the door and the bag of debris flew from his hand and scattered all over the ground. Pushing himself back to his feet, he turned and found the delivery guy sitting there with a smirk on his face as he gestured to the mess around Derek.

“Entropy. Chaos,” he said with a smirk and Derek growled but found himself laughing along with the guy.

“Who are you?” he finally asked when they both stopped laughing and started gathering together the trash.

“Stiles Stilinski,” he said, holding out a hand. “I sit behind you in your stats class.”

“I’ve never…” He was hesitant to admit he didn’t have any memory of the man in any of his classes.

“It’s no big deal. I’m usually running late and you’re already taking notes when I duck in the door. I was sitting at one of the study desks tonight when you came in finishing up an assignment for one of my computer classes. You looked stressed and I heard your stomach growling, so I thought I’d feed you.” He shrugged as Derek gaped. “I work at the Chinese place, so I know your regular order. My best friend works at the coffee shop and told me you like brownies with water. Which, gross, dude.”

“Don’t call me ‘dude,’” Derek said, trying for annoyed but his brain was still a mess of everything that Stiles had fed him that night.

“Everything else was just a guess,” he said. “I kind of wanted to see if you’d pay attention to me.”

Derek looked him over; Stiles looked tired and he wondered if he had planned to stay out there all night taking care of Derek. “What if I hadn’t left just now?”

“I would’ve brought you an omelet in about an hour,” he said around a yawn.

“How about I take you for breakfast instead,” Derek suggested, the words tumbling out before his brain had fully formed them. “And then I’m going home to sleep for a week.”

“Same, dude,” Stiles responded, falling into step next to him, their shoulders bumping as they headed toward the diner just off campus while Derek moaned and groaned about entropy and Stiles laughed at him, making him feel better than he had all night.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr. I'm 'josjournal' over there.


End file.
